Falling
by Beckoning.Disaster
Summary: What really DOES happen when your world falls down? And where are you supposed to go from there? NOT QUITE ON HIATUS, BUT WON'T BE UPDATED REGULARLY.
1. The Beginning

My world had fallen down.

I was falling.

I could physically feel the gravity around me, pulling me closer to the distant ground, if there was one, demanding my defeat, my surrender.

Sweet, _sweet _surrender.

No. It wasn't supposed to work this way.

It wasn't fair!

But what was the point in resisting anymore?

Why did I _want_ to resist, still?

There was no escape from this.

There was no place to run to anymore.

_'No.'_ The voice in the back of my head pleaded. _'Don't give up. You can't give up. You_ can't_!'_

"Sarah." An outside voice crooned my name, sing-songed it, illustrated it with a dark longing. "Sarah, why are you fighting me? Just give in, darling, and save yourself from this struggle."

_'Don't listen! Don't listen to him!'_

"Sarah. Sarah, love, you cannot get away from me this time. You can never get away from me again. You're mine, Sarah." The voice purred. Where was it coming from?

I reached up, as if hoping something would catch me and pull me back up.

I didn't want to fall, I didn't.

It was going on for forever, no end in sight.

"No!" I screamed, looking down. Darkness, just darkness. It was creeping more steadily around me now, engulfing my bright glow. "You can't have me! You can't have my light!"

"Ah, but I already _do_, Sarah."

"No!" I shrieked again, choking on a dry sob. I didn't belong to him, I _didn't_! He was wrong!

"Yes, love. You know it to be true. So why must you fight so? Just give in to me, Sarah, and I will make the darkness go away."

But I knew that once, _if_ I gave in, the darkness would never go away.

I couldn't see anything now but the dim shimmer around myself, defending myself against the black.

I was losing. I couldn't fight the dark.

_'No, Sarah, No! Don't lose hope!'_

Hope? Hope was long gone.

I had no hope now.

All I had to do was say those two little words that would save me from this eternal hole, this personal hell.

"I'm… _yours_."

My light was out completely, stolen from me.

The words could barely escape my numb lips.

My inner voice groaned in disbelief.

Dark laughter filled my ears as my falling slowed.

The black did not lift.

I fell like a feather in the wind, gently rocking back in forth in the air, until I landed in a strong pair of arms.

As they tightened around me, I could feel the vibrations of my captor's chuckles and the pleasured growl that came from the back of his throat.

He tucked my head under his own, gently but firmly using his chin to guide me there. I cowered in his grip, shutting my eyes closed as he uttered but one possessive word:

"_Mine_."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _I'm just going to say this once... I don't own anything, so please don't sue me!!_


	2. One

Light.

The bright, intense light burned through her eyelids, disorienting her. She groaned and stretched out a bit, slowly opening her eyes.

He was... _beautiful_.

Her brow furrowed, her bottom lip slightly pushed out as she examined the man hovering over her. He was beautiful, not handsome, with mismatched eyes that seemed to look deep into her soul. She smiled hesitantly up at him. "Hi," She said softly.

His look of intense relief struck up a strong emotional response in her. To think that this glorious man was so worried over her... She didn't want him to be worried about her. She wanted him to be happy.

"Sarah," He sighed, brushing her hair away from her face gently.

She frowned. "Is that my name?"

He smirked, his beauty once again hitting her. "Yes. Your name is Sarah," He paused, his gaze penetrating. "How do you feel?"

She averted her gaze from him, now ready to learn of her surroundings. She quickly realized that her head was in his lap, and she was surprised to find that she didn't mind. She scoped the area around her and saw nothing but a beautiful, sunny garden. "I feel fine," She said slowly. "Kinda weird. Scratch that, make it really weird." She looked back up at him. "I should know you, shouldn't I?"

He smiled down at her kindly, brushing his thumb against her forehead repeatedly in a soothing motion. "Yes," He said simply.

She half-smiled up at him. "You're beautiful," She said.

He chuckled. "Thank you."

"Am I beautiful?" She asked, her brow suddenly furrowing again.

He looked at her for a long moment, his expression rather longing. Or maybe just sad. "Yes," He said. "You are very beautiful."

She grinned up at him, happy, and wanting him to be happy too. He smiled back down at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. His eyes were still sad. "Tell me what you remember. And what you see," He said.

She though for awhile. "I can't remember much," She said finally. "My memory seems blank and head a bit empty, y'know?" She shrugged. "Did I faint?" She asked.

He hesitated. "Yes," He replied. "You fell rather hard. I suppose you must have hit your head."

"Oh," She supposed that made sense. She blinked and looked around again. "I see a pretty garden," She said. "It's bright and sunny and green. And I have a beautiful man over me." She smiled brightly up at him, delighted to see him smile back.

He was leaning down all of a sudden, leaning down close to her. _'Oh,'_ She thought. _'He's going to kiss me.'_ She closed her eyes at just the right time, his lips slanting softly over hers.

It felt like her entire body was melting into a puddle. Every molecule of her body seemed to sigh, _'This is right.'_

The kiss itself was much too short, with him pulling away too soon for her. She tried to follow him and kiss him again, but he just chuckled and lifted himself out of her reach. "Easy, precious," He crooned, still smiling with amusement. "You just woke up. We don't want to over do you, now, do we?"

"Yes, we do," She said insistently, but it was no good. He laughed again softly and pressed his lips chastely against her forehead.

"There will be plenty of time for that later," He said huskily in her ear, and her body tingled with anticipation.

"I don't even know your name!" She said in exasperation.

His eyes twinkled in delight, grinning down at her. "Why, it's Jareth, of course," He said smoothly. "I'm your fiancee."

* * *

Umm... please don't hurt me? Because I love you all!


	3. Two

"Fiancee?" Sarah was surprised, honestly. She didn't even know how old she was. Was she very old, she wondered. Was she very young? She guessed she was old enough to be married... maybe she was in love. Looking up at the beautiful man Jareth, she was sure that she was marrying for love. She thought that she was probably that sort of person.

"Yes, love," Jareth said patiently. "I'm very sad you can't seem to remember anything, but I'll make it up to you. We'll... reform your life."

"Okay," She said readily. She wanted to remember. "Let's get started."

Jareth helped her get up, taking her hand and brushing glitter out of her hair. She squeezed her shoulders up towards her ears and grinned up at him -- he was a good five inches taller than her. His eyes roamed her face, his gaze intense and full of adoration. He leaned down swiftly to kiss her again, but she giggled and turned her face away at the last minute, so he nibbled on her neck. She laughed, darting out of his embrace.

"Come on!" She grabbed his hand and set off running, pulling her behind him. She was eager to see everything and to learn all that she once knew again.

Her run quickly slowed down to a fast walk as she tried to figure the way out of the maze-like garden. The plant walls were so high she couldn't see any view beyond them that they might be concealing. "It's so beautiful!" She said, looking back at Jareth, who was struggling to keep up. "Where exactly are we?"

"The garden, of course," He chuckled. "Where else?"

"Well, I know that," She said, exasperated, as she suddenly stopped at a dead end that split in two different directions. Jareth was able to fully catch up and stopped at her side. "I assume we don't live in a garden, though, right?"

He smirked. "No, that would be absurd. We live in a castle."

Her eyes grew wide, and she took her attention off of her choice of direction to look up at him. "A castle?" She asked in wonder.

He nodded and she grinned widely, looking around wildly. "Well, where is it?" She demanded.

He exhaled soundly and took his hand out of hers so that he could offer them both out in front of him. "I'll lift you up," He said. "So you can see over the hedges."

She hesitated. "I won't hurt you, will I?"

"Of course not," He scoffed, bending down so that she could step on his hands. She realized for the first time that she was wearing silk ballet flats and a dres. They were very pretty, which pleased her greatly. She stepped on Jareth's hands and he lifted her up smoothly so that she could peer over the hedge.

Her breath caught. The view was glorious.

A large, majestic, Cinderella-esque castle stood in the distance, tall and proud. And completely surrounding it was... she supposed you would call it a Labyrinth. It was splendid, looking very challenging and mysterious. "Wow," She breathed.

She squealed as she was suddenly pulled down, her legs sliding through Jareth's circled arms. They caught her waist and turned her around so that she was nose-to-nose with him, her legs dangling several inches above the ground. "What do you think?" He asked softly, smiling pleasantly.

"Why does everything have to be so beautiful?" She smirked, shaking her head slightly.

He copied her smirk and she caught his eyes darting away for a moment before quickly turning his attention fully back to her, suddenly changing the subject. "I just want to kiss you all the time, Sarah-mine," He admitted. "But considering you don't even remember me right now, I don't think it would be appropriate."

"I guess you'll just have to work harder for them," She said teasingly. He growled deep in his chest and reluctantly let her go.

"How did I fall?" She asked, suddenly curious. "I mean... If I just fainted, how did I lose my memory?"

Jareth straightened slightly, but she didn't notice. She had knelt down to look at a small, yellow flower on the ground. "I don't exactly remember what happened," He said quietly. "It all happened so fast."

"Oh, come on. Tell me! I want to remember everything... including how I stopped remembering." She gently caressed the petals of the flower, and the quickly pinched the stem to pluck it from the ground. To her surprise and amazement, a new flower grew back in its place in a second.

"We were playing a game," Jareth said slowly, his eyes following her every move. "I suppose it was just a few moments ago, actually. I was counting, and you were hiding... and you did a very good job hiding. I was getting worried by the time I finally found you, and when I did..." He took in a shaky breath. "You were on the ground. It looked like you had fainted."

"Oh," She frowned, standing up with the flower in her hand. "Do you think someone put a spell on me?"

He smirked. "I hope not. I'm the only magic user around here."

She shook her head, smiling slightly. "No you aren't, silly."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He said coolly.

"Of course not," She shook her head, coming forward to put her flower in his breast pocket. "I'm remembering a bit now... of course you aren't the only magic user in this place. But I'm sure you're one of the most powerful, right?"

"I _am_ the King," He said, his tone clipped and a bit cold.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, her hand flying up to her mouth. "Is that why you live in a castle?"

"Why _we_ live in a castle," He corrected.

She grinned. "Does that make me... a _Queen_?"

"Not yet," He smiled at her. "We're not quite married, love."

"A princess, then?" She clasped her hands together in eager anticipation for his answer.

He tilted his head slightly. "Yes," He said simply, giving her a lopsided smile.

She let out a squeal of delight and flung herself at a surprised King Jareth, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders in an ecstatic hug. "I'm a princess!" She laughed, hugging him tighter. His arms quickly wrapped around her too, his face burying in her hair. By the way his chest was shaking, it seemed like he was laughing with her.

She pulled away after a moment, taking his hand in hers again. "Which way to our castle?" She asked, grinning, her free hand on her hip.

So he took her there. But not without stealing a kiss first.

* * *

Let me explain a bit. Sarah's lost her memory, I think you've all got that down. She wakes up in an abnormal place with an abnormal man, right? While most sane people might panic, scream, or lose their sanity, Sarah is instead in an almost childlike state. She's eager to trust and believe the information she's been given, because she doesn't know anything about lies, since her whole state of mind has been practically washed away. She's innocent to the core, and ready to live in a life of fantasy. And a beautiful man who claims to love her is giving her all that she ever dreamed of... why wouldn't she love him? Or think that she loves him? Sarah's always wanted to have a perfect life.

Wow... that was long, scholarly, and it probably didn't make any sense. Darn.

So... what do you think? Is Sarah really "remembering"? Does she just have strong intuition? Are any of Jareth's words even remotely true? And what exactly do you think he has in store for his young bride-to-be?

Also, I could really use a beta!! Really badly, actually!! *hint hint* ;)

Thank you all SO SO much for the beautiful, lovely, helpful reviews... they really inspired me to write sooner. So, thank you. So much. You rock!


	4. Three

"Why is your castle so empty?" Sarah asked abruptly, propping her chin up on Jareth's knee and placing her chin on top of her closed fist. She was sitting on Jareth's lap (well, his middle really) on his throne in the elaborate, elegant throne room. He was busy tracing patterns with his finger against her lower back and failed to hear her at first.

"What, dear?" He asked patiently, taking his eyes off the small of her back and instead looking to her face.

"Why is your castle so empty?" She repeated impatiently. "I mean, our castle," She corrected quickly, throwing Jareth a quick smile.

"Hmm," He thought about her question for a moment and looked around the room as if he had never seen it before. "It's not usually empty. In fact, it's often quite crowded with subjects."

"Subjects live here?" Sarah asked in disbelief. She couldn't imagine sharing her home with complete strangers all the time.

He shrugged. "They come and go. It's not like they have their own rooms or anything," He snorted, shaking his head at the thought.

"That's mean," She frowned, slapping him lightly on the chest with her free hand. "Just because they aren't royalty doesn't mean they aren't people!"

Jareth arched an elegant eyebrow. "But they _aren't_ people," He said, almost like a question.

Her frown deepened. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Ask me what I'm the King of, Sarah," He said slowly, almost hesitantly.

She blinked once, but quickly complied. "What are you the King of?"

"The Labyrinth, for one. Most of the lands surrounding the Labyrinth, as well. Also the many... _interesting_ creatures that inhabit such areas. But, first and foremost," He paused. "I am the King of Goblins."

She took her head off of her propped up hand and adjusted her position so she could look at him head-on. "Goblins?" She asked, for clarification.

"Goblins," He confirmed.

She thought about that for a moment. "That's cool," She said finally, shrugging. "As long as they don't, you know, bite my toes off or anything."

Jareth gave her a strange look, but chuckled a second later. "Of course not. Biting the toes off of the future queen is completely out of the question."

"Good," Sarah nodded, content. "I like your castle, by the way. Even though it's abnormally empty right now."

"It's probably some goblin holiday I've forgotten about," He said, looking rather uninterested, and resumed his doodling on Sarah. "They only have about three bloody hundred of them."

She giggled, and he smirked. She looked around the room again, examining every inch. "Can we go exploring?"

He sighed. "Must we?"

"Please?" She stuck out her bottom lip pleadingly, trying to hop off of him. His hands reached out for her hips before she could move too much and pulled her right back onto him. "Please, Jareth?"'

His breathing hitched, and she smiled._ I won_, she thought smugly.

_She said my name,_ Jareth thought, feeling completely overwhelmed all of a sudden. _She said my _name_. _My_ name. She said it. To _me_._

"Alright," He said finally, exhaling deeply. "Lead the way, you silly thing."

She grinned, quickly pecking him on the cheek before hopping down off of him. "I want to find the kitchen," She declared. She _was_ rather hungry.

"With or without help?" Jareth asked patiently, standing and rolling his shoulders back once.

"Without, for the moment. Thanks, though," She looked around briefly and then set her jaw bravely and started marching out of the main entrance. Jareth leisurely walked behind her, enjoying the view.

She was just about to walk out of the main door when another, smaller door caught her entrance. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she swiftly went over to it. "What's in here?" She asked, opening the door.

"Sarah!" Jareth called out, reaching out a hand to stop her, but it was too late. She was already stepping inside, running up the stairs that had presented themselves to her. He muttered a curse and took off after her.

The stairs were strangely familiar to her. They just seemed to go on forever, up and up and up...She was losing energy, but she persisted. She could hear Jareth calling after her, coming after her, but she didn't care. She wanted to know where the stairs led to.

She finally plateaued, finding a long, flat floor.

Then she saw them.

Hundreds of stairs, backwards, forwards, sideways, diagonal-ways, short, long, every which way and shape you could think of.

They were _everywhere_.

She gasped, sinking to her knees. She... knew this place... She was... trying to remember... She was trying to remember, but it felt like she was hitting her own head against a brick wall.

_I know this place! I know it! Why can't I remember?_

"Sarah!"

It was Jareth, of course, coming to save her. Save her from what? Herself? Was this place dangerous, and she was forcing _herself _not to remember?

He came over and wrapped his arm around her, placing his free head against her forehead, his fingers brushing her temple. "Are you alright?" He asked in concern. She nodded once, staring at the ground. He wasn't convinced.

"Sarah?" He said softly, reaching over to take her chin gently in his hand and lift her face up to look at him instead. "Sarah, are you alright?" He repeated, searching her eyes with his own.

She suddenly smiled at him brightly, but her forehead furrowed and her eyes squinted, as if she were looking straight up into the sun. "Jareth," Her voice both pleasant and dangerous at the same time.

Jareth inhaled unsteadily, a sense of foreboding washing over him, as he waited for her to continue.

His heart stopped.

"Where's Toby?"

* * *

I've actually had this chapter for a long, long time . . . but it never got around to being betaed or changed. This isn't how I write anymore, so I think I might need to revamp it. I haven't given up on this story - it's just that I think I need to get my plotline back together.

_Falling_ is technically on hiatus . . . mostly because it just isn't at the top of my to-update list. It doesn't mean I'm done with it though!

Please do let me know what you think - I need some direction on where my readers would like me to go with this story! :)

You all are fantastic, and I love you tons!


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